The 2nd Trimester “Glow”

I’m 17 weeks pregnant, in the second trimester, and I feel like I’ve been robbed!

“The second trimester is wonderful!” I was promised.

“The nausea will go away, your energy will come back and you’ll look like a goddess!” they said.

“You’ll have more energy than the Duracell bunny!” they claimed.

“You’ll look like a hair and nail supermodel!” they assured.

The Big Fat Activity Book for Pregnant People (Jordan Ried and Erin Williams, 2017 ) says this about the second trimester:

“You step out of a dense fog that smells like feet and emerge onto a sun-drenched plain where Legends of the Fall-era Brad Pitt is standing with his arms outstretched. You float toward him, a flock of adorable little cartoon budgies chirping at your side. Your hair is long and flowing, bedecked with a crown of lotus flowers. You take a deep, meditative breath (because your stomach has not yet moved your lungs into your shoulders, and you can still do this), and you do not sneeze. In the second trimester, there is no pollen.”

All this magical second trimester stuff is a load of B*****s!

Myth 1- Your nausea will vanish and you’ll be able to eat everything again!

Now I haven’t really thrown up since about 7 weeks (apart from the odd occasion). But my nausea and food aversions have been a constant friend. The mere thought of beef makes my stomach lurch. The other day I tried to eat a chocolate biscuit and spent the next few hours curled up feeling sorry for myself and trying not to puke. I’m still restricted to about 5 foods and this doesn’t seem likely to change any time soon!

Myth 2- Your energy will return, in fact you’ll be full of energy!

My energy started to return a bit and I got seriously excited. I thought great! I can get through a day without napping! This lasted about a week. I’m back to feeling like a zombie, desperate for bed by 8pm and struggling to prop my eyes open by about 1pm.

Myth 3- Your hair will be luxurious and shiny!

The only thing anyone will notice about my hair is the abomination that is my roots! I spent a year gradually transforming from dark brunette to light blonde and had nearly reached the white blonde I dreamed of when I fell pregnant. Now I have brown roots halfway down my head, I dread to think how bad they’ll be by May!

I’ve read plenty that says it’s safe to dye your hair from the second trimester on wards and i’m sure the risk is minimal. However, there are still a few things that mean I won’t be dying my hair again until baby is born (And then, sadly, I may just return to brunette).

a) Money. I’m trying to save money right now and I can’t afford the £60 odd every 12 weeks to maintain my hair. I certainly won’t be able to afford this on maternity leave which is why brunette may make a return.

b) Colours can affect you differently when your pregnant. Imagine going to get it dyed and instead of that glorious blonde you get a hay stack yellow!

c) Sensitivity! Even using a face mask for sensitive skin makes my skin feel like it’s going to peel off at the moment. I’m not sure I could risk hair dye!

So for the time being my hair is going to remain a tragedy.

Myth 4- You’ll glow!

People do keep telling me that i’m glowing. Sadly, I then look in the mirror and can be pretty confident that the glow is just grease. I’m greasier than I was as a teenager (and just as spotty). Seriously, I haven’t had an outbreak like this since I was 15 and I forgot how awful it was! Not to mention the fact that on the rare occasion my skin isn’t greasier than a chip pan it’s dry as sand instead. I’m constantly torn between face products for greasy and dry skin and I cannot wait for a return to normalcy!

I’m still holding out some hope that the magical second trimester will make an appearance soon. There’s still plenty of time for it to show. But I can’t help glaring jealousy at all the lucky women who felt instantly amazing at 13 and 14 weeks and are currently smugly revelling in their second trimester goddessness. When is it my turn?!

What about you? Did you experience a magical second trimester or do you think it’s all b******s too?